


Day 9: Shackled

by evilwriter37



Series: Whumptober 2019 [9]
Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Fainting, Gen, Whump, breathing difficulties, chained, snotlout!whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 21:16:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20955035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: The Dragon Riders are chained up and on their way somewhere unknown, but Snotlout's chains are causing him the most discomfort out of the group.





	Day 9: Shackled

**Author's Note:**

> Posting this a day early because you sadly can't schedule posts on ao3 and I have a surgery tomorrow.

The Dragon Riders were captured. They shared a cell, but they couldn’t reach each other. All they could do was talk. They were shackled by their wrists and feet, and Hiccup had had his prosthetic taken so he had to use the chains at his wrists to balance. Their hands were chained to the wall above their heads. 

“Ugh, why couldn’t they have gotten me a longer chain?” Snotlout complained. His joints were aching, and he was standing on the tips of his toes to relieve the pressure on his wrists, elbows, and shoulders. He was the shortest of the Riders, but he hadn’t been given a chain to compensate for that. So everyone stood more comfortably than him, though having your wrists chained above your head couldn’t be described as comfortable. 

“Just grow a few inches,” Ruffnut joked. “That should solve the problem.”

Snotlout rolled his eyes. “And  _ how  _ do I do that?”

“By thinking really hard,” Tuffnut answered. “Duh.”

Snotlout sighed, though that made him realize that something wasn’t right with his breathing. He was a tad short of breath like he’d been doing exercise. 

_ Must be the air in here. _

His toes started cramping, and he resigned himself to extra discomfort in his arms, let himself hang there with his toes scraping the floor. His joints screamed in protest at the extra weight, but there was nothing that could be done for it. His feet needed the break.

Hanging there like that, it became hard to breathe, so it was only a few minutes before Snotlout put himself on his toes again. There, that was better. At least for his lungs. There were cramps in his feet and calves. His wrists, elbows, and shoulders were throbbing.

“Snotlout, you alright over there?” Hiccup asked. “You’re looking really strained.”

“You try holding yourself up with- oh.” Snotlout stopped himself. Hiccup only had one foot to stand on, and so he had to be relying on the chains for balance. When Snotlout looked over, he saw that he looked rather strained too. “Yeah. I’m… I’m okay. You?”

“Managing.”

  
  


Snotlout’s wrists burned. He was sure the metal had to be cutting into them by now, or at least trying its best to. His shoulders were a mess of throbbing and sharp pain, and his elbows hated him similarly. His feet and legs were cramped and sore.

This whole thing was a balancing act, in a way. He would stand on his toes to breathe easier and give his arms a break, and then when his feet and legs needed a break, he would dangle and let his arms take the brunt of it.

This was taking a toll on him though. He was puffing breaths in and out and his chest hurt. The relief from standing on his toes was short-lived. He could only do it for a few seconds now before his muscles shook with exhaustion and made him stop. He couldn’t talk to any of his friends, too focused on this task, too focused on breathing. Dangling from his arms was definitely making it hard to breathe - it wasn’t just the physical exertion.

Finally, Snotlout just closed his eyes and gave up, his friends voices all around him, calling to him, but he couldn’t respond.

  
  


Snotlout woke shackled to the floor. His arms and upper body were a mass of throbbing pain, and his calves and feet ached. He moaned, didn’t open his eyes. The chains were heavy on his hurting wrists, but at least he was laying down.

“Snotlout! Snotlout, are you okay?” That voice belonged to Fishlegs.

Snotlout opened his eyes, found himself still in the same cell as the rest of the Riders. It was dark save for the light of torches out in the hallway. The ship rocked as if they were in a storm, their chains rattling with the movement.

“Ughn,” he answered. “Everything hurts.”

“You fainted,” Astrid told him. 

Tuffnut had a dark expression on his face. “The guards said that if you couldn’t stand then you’re not allowed to.”

“Fantastic,” Snotlout said. Right now, it felt good to be lying down, but he knew that at some point he would grow stiff from being on the hard wood like this. His shoulders were screaming at him. He also knew that the others were probably envious of him, especially Hiccup. They’d been standing for hours. “Did they say when we’d get to wherever we’re going?”

“No,” Hiccup answered. There was strain in his voice, and his features were pulled tight. His chains rattled as he readjusted himself. “But they said  _ who  _ they’re taking us to.”

“Viggo?” Snotlout guessed, dread falling into his stomach.

“Viggo,” Hiccup confirmed.


End file.
